Theater J is instituting something new, a festival called Locally Grown: Community Supported Art from Our Own Garden, designed to celebrate the D.C. area’s community of playwrights. The first play in the festival is Renee Calarco’s “The Religion Thing,” the story of two thirtysomething couples: Mo (Liz Mamana) and Brian (Chris Stezin) and Patti (Kimberly Gilbert) and Jeff (Will Gartshore). Mo and Patti have been friends for a long time. They’re both super-smart professional women. Their men are also savvy and attractive. At the beginning of the play, Patti introduces her new boyfriend, Jeff, to Mo and Brian.
As the evening progresses, the superficial attitudes of all four characters unravel, revealing secrets large and small, partially focused through the lens of religion. Mo is a lapsed Catholic. Brian is Jewish but doesn’t go to synagogue. Patti and Jeff, it turns out, met in church. They are born-again Christians.
| Onstage |
| ‘The Religion Thing’ |
| Where: Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW |
| When: Through Jan. 29 |
| Info: $35 to $60; 202-777-3210; theaterj.org |
Some of Calarco’s best writing comes when she teases out the meaning of religion for each character. Stezin offers a stunning image of a man who feels underappreciated in a cosmic way, when he rebels at the manner in which his Jewish heritage has been cavalierly disrespected by Mo and her family. Gartshore is equally moving as he tries to explain the “inexplicable joy” he gets from his faith.
Religion is only one of the complicated targets Calarco aims at. She also looks critically at marriage, honesty, memory, self-delusion and — especially — sex. In Calarco’s universe, sex can make one happy and fulfilled or miserable and lonely. Jeff has to face his sexual past, as does Patti. Mo and Brian ultimately have to decide whether they want to have children .
Everyone in “The Religion Thing” is challenged by past events. Even Jeff, the most grounded, self-aware character, joins the others when confronted by his fears. Unfortunately, Calarco chooses to show her characters actually struggling with their demons, rather than dealing with them in more metaphorical ways. The result is a series of redundant, explicit scenes, including a sex scene with Patti, Jeff and Jeff’s gay ex-boss that is so silly, it totally undermines the earlier strength of Calarco’s writing.
The cast of “The Religion Thing” is extremely talented, and director Joe Calarco leads the actors into excellent performances. Gartshore is particularly effective as a man who believes his life has been changed forever by his church.
James Kronzer’s clever set uses a turntable to whisk the action from place to place in a moment.
The Locally Grown festival is a great idea, and it’s as refreshing to have D.C. references as it is to eat locally grown produce. But this play needs some pruning and cutting before it can be considered ripe for the enjoying.
